TRP: Goro and Roddy (Stealing from Helm)
Setting The Guild Barracks Roddy is sitting on his bunk, staring at his gunnysack and a visibly full purse next to it, wringing his hands and muttering nervously to himself. Player 1: Goro is passing by the door. Seeing Roddy out of the corner of his eye, he stops. He seems to deliberate with himself for a moment, sighs, and walks in, arms crossed. "Something the matter, Roddy?" Player 2: Roddy flinches, jerking around to spot Goro. "Oh. It's you." Wait a minute. It's Goro. Hurriedly he grabs his things and clutches them to his chest, eyeing the cleric suspiciously. "Noooothing?" he said slowly, sounding like he was trying to convince himself more so than Goro. Player 1: Goro sighs again and rubs his face. "Roddy, relax. I don't steal from my coworkers, alright? Do you have any idea what Ripley would do to me if she got wind of that? Besides, I just got a nice chunk of change from selling some gems. I have no interest in your stuff." He gestures to the purse. "You haven't spent it yet?" Player 2: "Oh." Roddy slowly set his things back down before quickly snatching his hands back and folding them in his lap. "I spent some of it," he said. "Diva had a good deal on this-" he poked the gunnysack for emphasis. "But that's the problem I stole that money from Helm and I was maybe gonna give it away but now its mine and I don't want toooooooo." Through the course of this Roddy gradually got faster and louder, finishing out in a strait up whine. Player 1: "Well, what's the problem then? It's yours. Spend it." Goro thinks a little more on what Roddy said. "You're worried because you stole it from Helm? Listen, kid." Goro almost goes to sit next to Roddy, thinks the better of it, and takes a seat on the bunk across the aisle. "We didn't steal a damn thing from Helm. Think about this--what's a god gonna do with all that treasure they've got hoarded in the vault? You think he's gonna go buy himself a beer and a sandwich? Helm doesn't need money. That money's not for Helm, it's for the church officials. It'd be one thing if they were planning to spend it on feeding the poor, but they weren't. They use it to buy nice shiny gems for themselves. And what makes you think they deserve those shiny gems more than you or me?" Player 2: "I suppose that makes- did you just call me kid?" Roddy stared at Goro, indigent. "Don't call me kid! I am an adult you know. I have a job. Besides, you're short." As if that was the last word, Roddy grabbed his gold sack and tossed it into the gunnysack. "Helm doesn't approve of stealing though, and they were his church officials. I don't think I quite thought this through when I decided to follow him." Player 1: "Yeah, that could, uh... that could be a problem. But look at it this way. If Helm really had that much of a problem with stealing, don't you think he'd have struck you down by now? I feel like the guy's got bigger problems to worry about. The corruption of his own officials, for a start. Listen, Roddy, those guys are bastards. They hoard money they extort from the people. They cast out people who are actually trying to do good and live right, live the way Helm would want them to." Goro looks particularly infuriated at that last part. "They're not holy men. They're thieves. No better than you and me, no matter what they tell you. In fact, they're just about the most deserving people you could steal from. They're not gonna be starving in the streets after what we did, I can promise you that." Player 2: ...Goro felt very strongly about this. Roddy was clutching his bag, leaning away from the suddenly-vehement outburst of rage against the church. "I don't know if putting it that way is reassuring or not," he said, wary in case Goro suddenly started ranting again. "...And anyway aren't you supposed to be on their side? Being a 'holy man' yourself?" (It wasn't until too late that it occurred to Roddy using air quotes might offend his fellow party member.) ...Nice going, Rodger Hammerstein the Third, you doof. Player 1: Goro smiled. "Let me put it this way. This isn't something I tell a lot of people, but I'm telling you, because I think the two of us are kind of alike in some ways. When I was about your age, a cleric of Helm took me under her wing. She fed me. Clothed me. Taught me to read and write, to cast spells. For no reason, except she thought it was the right thing to do, since I had no one else. I may not be a good guy, but I know goodness when I see it, and I've never seen a more complete example of goodness than that cleric. So when the church--those holy men--when they kicked her out, and started looking for a reason to have her executed, when she did nothing to deserve it--" Goro realizes he's getting heated again, so he makes himself take a breath and sit back on the bed. "You're cleverer than you let on, Roddy. So I don't think I need to spell it out for you. I think you know whose side I'm on." He shrugs. "Besides, we're all working for Ripley, right? That's the important part." 10. September 2018 Player 2: Roddy Roddy stared at Goro, trying to fit the puzzle pieces that was this weird guy together. Hated the church- but was a cleric. Perfectly happy to murder people- but was a cleric. Perfectly content to rob and steal and cheat from the church- but was a cleric of that church. "You'd make a lot more sense if you weren't a cleric." It popped out of Roddy's mouth almost unconsciously. He winced, but- Goro probably wouldn't mind? He was the worst cleric Roddy had ever met after all. At the very least Goro should know that he wasn't like most of the others. "Hey is that Ripley you're talking about?" he asked. "Wait no she's not a cleric- is he? ...I don't know him very well." Player 1: Goro frowned, puzzled. "Uh, she. Ripley's a she. And no, she's not a cleric. She's a paladin. I'm talking about someone else." Goro crossed his arms, suddenly more guarded. But after a moment he smiled again. "You know, Roddy, I couldn't agree with you more. Being a cleric isn't the best fit for me. That's something I'm working on--finding a better way to spend my time. But don't tell anyone, alright? Just between you and me. It's a work in progress. Just like you wouldn't want someone hearing a new song you wrote before you were finished with it." Player 2: "Yes, that's what I said," Roddy said, staring at Goro blankly. Hadn't he been listening? But then what he was saying was sinking in. Roddy leaned away from Goro, eyeing him suspiciously. "I'm not gonna copy what you're doing," he blurted. "I do my own thing and write my own songs. I don't copy. Never." ...Goro didn't need to know that was a lie. There were maybe a feeeeew songs out there with Roddy's name on them that Roddy may have- been heavily inspired by other people's. Looking off to the side, he riffled around his gunnysack and pulled out his scrying eyes. Wrong thing, whoops. The next thing to come out was the Gekker- not the actual lute Roddy had been looking for but for something to keep his fingers busy, it'd do. "So, what are you thinking about then?" he asked, having to pitch his voice louder to be heard over the magic silence of the lute. Player 1: "Um. Ahhh. Well." Goro continued smiling, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorcery. I mean, wizardry. Learning spells. Things that will help the Guild. Say, that's a great.... song.... you're playing." Player 2: Like Goro could tell what it was. There wasn't any sound and he was no bard to be able to recognize a song- meant to be sung by a women about washing men out of their hair... Bad song choice Roddy! Bad bad song choice! With a loud 'harmph' Roddy shoved the Gekker back in his sack. "You know what I changed my mind!" Shooting to his feet, he gave Goro a couple heavy-handed 'pats' on the head. "You get into all kinds of shady things and I don't think I want to know about them!" Player 1: Goro tried not to wince at the pats. "Yeah, you know, I uh... tend to keep my private life pretty private, anyway. But hey, Roddy, it was good talking to you. I don't know what to tell you about the gold. If you want to spend it, spend it. If it'd make you feel better to give it away to the poor, then by all means. I know it's what my mentor would do. In fact, one time, she..." Goro started to laugh, but cut himself off. He shook his head. "Actually, it's kind of a long story. Take care of yourself, Roddy. Just try not to let guilt get the better of you, okay? You're a con man, for crying out loud." Player 2: Roddy hummed lightly, staring at Goro a moment. He was confusing, and hard to read, and seemed to be made up mostly of contradictions- but he did have a good point. "You're right, I am a con," he said, nodding. "I think I'm going to go out and exercise that skill. Thank you Goro, talking to you was most helpful," he said, with one last solid 'pat'. "I'll see you off adventuring at some time!" he said cheerily, waving as he headed for the door. END Category:Text Roleplay